‘Oh!’ Maddie said. The woman turned sharply.
An apple rolled next to her foot and she bent to pick it up before handing it to Maddie.
‘Thanks,’ Maddie said and smiled. She looked down into the pushchair and saw that Ben had both cars clutched in his tiny fists again. ‘So, you managed to get Ben’s car back then?’
‘What?’ The woman narrowed her eyes at Maddie.
‘The car? I’m sorry, I was in the playground this morning. I was the one who told you that Batman had stolen his car?’ Maddie realised what she must sound like.
The woman stared at her like she was an exhibit in a zoo, then smiled cautiously. ‘Oh, right, yeah.’
‘Hi, Ben,’ Maddie said, crouching down. ‘Cars are your favourite, I guess? Say, I don’t suppose you’ve lost a little fluffy kitten, have you? I found one on the stairs this morning. It was…’ She looked over at the stairwell, but the soft toy was gone.
The woman followed her eyes, then turned back to her with a frown before slowly backing away with the pushchair.
Maddie got back to her feet and followed her, saying enthusiastically, ‘Can I help you up the stairs with the pushchair?’ She could hear the desperation in her voice and hated herself for it.
‘No, thanks, we’ll be fine. I manage all the time on my own. Fucking lift never works.’
Maddie flinched at the expletive. ‘I don’t mind. In fact, I insist.’
The woman glanced around her, as if hoping for back-up. Before she could object, Maddie put her hand on the bottom of the pushchair between Ben’s tiny feet and lifted it from the floor. The woman had no choice but to lift the handles before Ben was tipped out of his seat.
Maddie could hear herself jabbering away as they climbed the stairs to the first floor. ‘My name is Maddie Lowe. I moved in yesterday. Just me… on my own… long story. Anyway, if you ever need help or a babysitter for Ben, just knock. I’m in Flat 2. Happy to help. I love kids. Of course, I know you don’t know me, but I’m very reliable.’
They’d reached the top of the stairs, but the woman made no move to head towards either of the doors in front of them. Maddie realised with embarrassment that she probably didn’t want to let on which flat she lived in, considering the rambling mad woman standing in front of her.
‘Anyway, nice to meet you. Bye,’ Maddie said and quickly headed back down the stairs.
Just before she reached the bottom, she heard the woman say above her head, ‘Maddie, was it?’ Maddie looked up the stairwell to see her leaning over.
‘Yes, it is,’ she replied, pathetically pleased.
‘Nice to meet you. I’m Jade Tingly.’ She smiled briefly, then disappeared.
*
Jade sat on the floor, tidying away the toys that Ben had flung around the room earlier during his tantrum. So someone had moved in downstairs. Not a total surprise. She’d seen the decorators coming and going for the last few weeks.
Jade thought about the woman she’d met. Maddie Lowe. She seemed a bit highly strung, nervous maybe, and desperate to make a good first impression. Actually, when she had spoken to Jade in the playground, Jade had thought her a bit of a nosy cow. The kind of woman who would feel nothing about telling you exactly where you were going wrong with your child.
But thinking about it now, perhaps this was fortuitous.
Time would tell, though.
Her phone buzzed on the coffee table. She reached over and grabbed it. The message was brief. She didn’t reply straight away. She needed to think up an appropriate response, come up with a viable excuse. Enough to put him off but also keep him keen.
She got to her feet and headed towards the kitchen. She could do with a cigarette. Ben had been annoying all day and she was glad of the peace and quiet now. She had a bottle of cold wine in the fridge that had her name on it for tonight. She planned to sit on the couch, find something to watch on Netflix and finish the bottle. Maybe see if Deon wanted to come over. He’d have forgiven her for last night by now.
The middle of her foot landed on something sharp and she screeched. A Matchbox car lay on its back like a stuck turtle, the wheels spinning. Ben and his bloody cars!
She grabbed the car and launched it at the wall. It fell short and bounced under the television stand. Jade limped to the couch and sat, rubbing the sole of her foot where the car had left a hot red mark on her pale skin.
Now she really did need that drink.
*
Greg Lowe sat in the rocking chair, cradling his daughter in his lap. She was buttoned snugly into fleecy pyjamas covered in frolicking unicorns, a dummy in her mouth. Occasionally she would suck half-heartedly on the dummy as she nodded off, but as the minutes ticked past, the sucking slowed and the dummy began to dangle from her ridiculously red lips.
Greg gazed at her in awe. The smoothness of her skin and the tufts of white-blonde curls that refused to be tamed, the tiny nub of a nose and impossibly small fingernails.
The story he was reading her had long since finished, but still he sat, gently rocking back and forward in the chair, not wanting to break the bond by putting her in her bed.
Maddie would love this. He could imagine them fighting over who would read her a story, both of them desperate for one last cuddle. He felt bad about not letting her come over that morning, but as soon as he’d mentioned the text to Gemma, she had made her feelings clear, saying in an arctic hiss, ‘You spent all of yesterday with her. You don’t need to see her today as well.’
‘Greg!’
He shifted his gaze over to where Gemma now stood in the doorway, her arms crossed over her artificially modified chest.
‘You’re spoiling her! I’ve told you not to let her fall asleep in your arms. She’ll expect it all the time. Come on, enough now. And take that dummy out of her mouth.’
Greg sighed. ‘I’m coming.’
Gemma tutted and stalked off, leaving a puff of disappointment behind her.
Greg sneaked one last kiss onto his baby girl’s forehead and gently tucked her into her bed with a smile, leaving the dummy within easy reach of her fingers in case she needed it.
3
When the rest of Maddie’s new furniture was delivered on Monday, she was still in her pyjamas and dressing gown, her shoulder-length brown hair pulled into a messy ponytail and her teeth furry and unbrushed, despite it being 11.30 a.m. The delivery men made no comment, merely came in, unpacked the furniture and left with a signature to say that all of Greg’s purchases were now safely installed in Maddie’s new home.
Sitting on the stiff new couch made her feel pathetic. She gathered up all of the leftover packaging and shoved it into black bin liners. Leaving her front door open, she carried the bags out of the main door to the communal bins at the side of the building. As she returned, she was met by a thin, pale man standing with his foot propped in her door. She pulled up short.
‘Hi.’
‘Oh, hi, I figured you were outside,’ he said in a quiet voice.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Um…’ He ran his fingers through dark, scruffy hair, looking awkward. ‘I saw your door open and that door open—’ he pointed to the outside ‘—and then your door started to swing shut and…’ He shrugged.